CHAG joins quest to unravel death of 9-week-old baby

The Catholic Health Services Association of Ghana (CHAG) says it will be upset if claims that the negligence of doctors at St. Gregory Hospital at Kasoa caused the death of a nine-week-old baby boy are proven.

The Central Regional Director of the Association, Dr Stephen Takyi Ansah, said he was unable to tell whether oxygen supply to the baby was cut as reported in the media.

The hospital management could face sanctions if it is established that a doctor pulled the plug on an oxygen machine - because parents of the baby could not pay their medical bills - which resulted in the demise of the infant. 

There was public outrage which moved the Ghana Health Service to order investigations into circumstances leading to the death of the baby.

The hospital authorities are tight-lipped on the issue but say they are investigating the circumstances that led to the death of the baby.

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare has said it would be wrong for a medical officer to remove oxygen mask from a patient if it is established the patient had a greater chance of survival.

“If oxygen is there and it’s taken off [if it is true] because the father or mother could not pay, then we have to look for what happened,” Dr Nsiah Asare told Joy News’ Daniel Dadzie.

He assured that action will be taken against the facility “If it actually happened”.

The CHAG Regional Director said, “as a Catholic health institution and a Catholic church in general, we are pro-life so anything in connection with life, we attach much importance to it.

“For somebody to exterminate life, that is something we do not countenance,” he said.

He said they have constituted a high powered team to investigate the case and submit a report.

“Based on the report we will see the way forward,” he added.